


Better With You

by SilverAmoebasquid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Baby warning for some violence not a whole lot, But mostly it's cute fluff, I just like hurting my faves apparently, I'm not a sadist. Promise., M/M, TeruShira, a good, because that is the reality of my life lmao, i love them, they care about each other so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 12:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10967454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverAmoebasquid/pseuds/SilverAmoebasquid
Summary: Outside of volleyball, Yuuji and Kenjirou still have to deal with school-related social lives and sometimes those work out better than other times.





	Better With You

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this lil fluff :3 again some minor warnings for some violence but it's nothing major!

_Why are you like this..._ Kenjirou muttered to himself, feeling the painfully obvious eyes on him. Did he like having a boyfriend? Yes. Did he like that his boyfriend was loyal and supportive? Yes. Did he like that if Johzenji didn’t have a practice session on any particular night, said boyfriend would linger in the doorway of Shiratorizawa’s volleyball gym and wait until they were done? Not entirely.

_He’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s staring... I should’ve petitioned for longer shorts, I knew it. He’s totally staring at me, isn’t he—_ A ball  shot straight toward Kenjirou and it was pure instinct kicking in at the last second that kept him from getting nailed in the face.

Another ten minutes and practice was thankfully over. Kenjirou stalked toward the gymnasium door, scowling. “You’re such a distraction.”

Yuuji grinned. “Thank you! I’ll take that as a compliment!”

Kenjirou punched Yuuji’s shoulder and tried not to smile. “So are you coming to my place for the night? Is that what this surprise visit means?”

“Yeah! If your parents are okay with it, that is.”

“What about me? Shouldn’t you ask me if I’m okay with you staying over? Maybe I still want to fulfill my dream of becoming a shut-in hermit with no friends.”

“You dream is stupid. Now come on! Let’s go!”

Kenjirou rolled his eyes and gestured to the gym. “I have to clean up. Amuse yourself for five minutes.”

“I’ll help clean!”

“You will stay by the door and not infringe on my practice.”

Yuuji visibly sagged and Kenjirou turned on his heel, smiling. _The patience lessons are going well. He’s not even protesting anymore._ It wasn’t even so much trying to teach Yuuji how to be patient, it was more Kenjirou trying to tease him and keep just out of reach as long as possible before letting Yuuji finally hug him or talk to him.

Kenjirou glanced over his shoulder once or twice to watch Yuuji fidget by the doorway and talk to a couple first years who left after their allotted chores were finished.

There were only a few students left in the gym when Kenjirou deemed the place clean and they all started for the doorway.

Kenjirou headed instead for the back of the gym and stood in the doorway of a small office, clearing his throat softly.

Washijou looked up from a notebook he was scribbling in at his desk. “Finished finally?”

“Yes, sir.” Kenjirou nodded. “Do you want the front door keys?”

“Sure. Have a good night.”

“Thanks. You as well.”

Kenjirou tossed the keys to the gym onto the desk and stepped back into the gym, only to find himself face-to-face with Yuuji.

“Fu—! Really? You couldn’t stand two feet behind me? You had to stand an inch away from my face?”

Yuuji just grinned and wrapped his arms around Kenjirou.

“Hey, cut it out!” Kenjirou pried Yuuji’s fingers off his back and pushed him toward the door. “We’re practically in the coach’s doorway, have some tact!” he hissed.

“Practice is over,” Yuuji rolled his eyes, “so technically he can’t do anything about it.”

“He can still hate me. It’s just rude, okay?”

The instant they stepped through the door, Yuuji had Kenjirou pinned against the wall and had captured his lips.

Kenjirou melted into the kiss and slid his hands up Yuuji’s chest. “You’re ridiculous,” he whispered, pulling away for air.

Yuuji grinned and pulled them away from the building, taking hold of Kenjirou’s hand and leading him toward the exit of the campus. “How was your day?” Yuuji asked cheerfully, swinging his arm and dragging Kenjirou’s along with it.

“Pretty good,” Kenjirou replied, feeling like his arm was going to tear off if Yuuji didn’t stop swinging it back and forth so wildly. “A really good practice session too this evening. I think we’re really getting somewhere.”

“You looked amazing!” Yuuji said loudly, tightening his fingers around Kenjirou’s. “You always do, but you looked like you were on fire tonight!”

Kenjirou smiled slightly. _Ten bucks says he wasn’t watching anyone else on the team for an instant._ “Thank you. You guys are going to have a hell of a time next time we have a practice match.”

“Oh, we’ll be ready for you. We’ve got a whole new arsenal of tricks up our sleeves and we’re ready to kick some _shiratori_ butt!”

“Yeah? Good to hear it. We need a good opponent again.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Kenjirou.”

“Enough sass from you. How was your day?”

“It was good!” Yuuji skipped, not letting go of Kenjirou’s hand. “There’s this new girl who sits in front of me and she’s super hot but not that smart, so don’t worry. I battled against a couple third years from the basketball club in table tennis after school and I totally annihilated them! Oh also, we got new markers for the whiteboard and there’s like seventeen colors, it’s insane, you could be a professional whiteboard artist with all those colors!! Oh! And there was this group of first years who are friends with some of my first years who came up to me because my first years told them I had a tongue piercing and they didn’t believe it so I showed them and they all thought it was super cool and they asked if I had any tattoos and I told them I didn’t but I was maybe going to get some once high school is over because that would be sick!”

Kenjirou smiled. For an instant, he was almost satisfied with the barrage of stories. “I’ll ask again. How was your day?”

Yuuji looked over, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Something’s bothering you. Out with it.”

“Kenjirou, nothing’s bothering me!” Yuuji laughed. “Why would you... think that?”

_Yep, that settles it. He’s not okay._ “You’re a terrible liar. Also, you have a tell and I know what it is.”

“I do not have a tell.” Yuuji rolled his eyes but rubbed the back of Kenjirou’s hand with his thumb. “If I do, tell me what it is.”

Kenjirou smirked. “I can’t tell you. Then you’ll be aware and you’ll stop doing it.”

Yuuji sighed and attempted to stuff both his and Kenjirou’s interlocked hands into his pants pocket.

_There it is. We’ve been walking for fifteen minutes and you haven’t let go of my hand to dance in circles around me or chase a bird or fall behind to kick at a rock. You, Terushima Yuuji, are so obvious. What’s making you clingy today?_

“It’s nothing, Kenjirou, honest. If I seem weird or whatever to you, It’s just because I’m tired. It’s late.”

“It’s not that late. You didn’t even have volleyball practice so you should have plenty of reserve energy.”

Yuuji looked away. “I didn’t eat lunch.”

Kenjirou frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

“There was someone else who needed it more than I did so I gave it to them.”

_An angel..._ “Who was it?”

Yuuji shrugged. “I don’t really know him that well, but he’s in the class right under me and I... Haven’t seen him with a lunch for a few days so I asked if he wanted mine.”

_A lie... Somewhere in there..._ “I see. That’s nice of you. Have you talked to him before?”

“A couple times. I’ve loaned him some of my notes before, though I don’t think he could read my handwriting all that well, so I don’t know why he bothers. We talked a little bit the... the other day and it just seems like he’s had kind of a hard life, so I’ll help him out if I can!”

Kenjirou smiled as they reached his house and he unlocked the front door, stepping out of the dark evening and heading straight for the kitchen to find something for Yuuji to eat. “Are you going to keep giving him your lunch?”

Yuuji plunked down at the kitchen table. “Uh, probably not. I asked him why he didn’t have one and he just kinda shrugged and told me he didn’t want to be a charity case.”

_There’s still more to this, I’m positive..._ “Is that why you decided he had a rough background?”

“Yeah, part of it. He just seems like he has a lot of repressed emotions. It’s hard not to be upset if your family isn’t there for you. I wasn’t really old enough to remember when my dad left, but... I kinda get it. If my mom wasn’t so involved with my life, I can’t imagine being as happy as I am. There have been a few times where I just wanted to yell and take out my emotions instead of figuring out a different way, so I don’t blame him.”

Kenjirou frowned and pulled some cherries and some other food out of the fridge. “Have you seen him get angry like that before?”

Yuuji fidgeted with his hands and started to reach for the pepper shaker in the center of the table.

_He wants something to hold..._ Kenjirou swooped in and cleared everything from the table, moving it to the counter casually, depriving Yuuji of any distractions.

Yuuji finally looked up at Kenjirou.

_There you go. Look at me._

“I mean, I told him that if he needed to vent about anything, he could talk to me.”

Kenjirou gently touched Yuuji’s shoulder.

Yuuji flinched backward slightly.

“Yuuji, please tell me that you’re not letting this guy walk all over you because you empathize with his problems...”

Yuuji grabbed hold of both of Kenjirou’s hands. “Kenjirou, no, I promise, I won’t let that happen, I just don’t want him to have to bottle it all up inside! I’m okay!”

Kenjirou glared and bent over so he could look directly into Yuuji’s wide, brown eyes. “Tell him no. It’s not fine.”

“He feels so much better after letting it all out though!”

“That’s what counselors are for, Yuuji. It’s not your job to be his verbal punching bag.”

“Kenjirou, I—”

“Please.”

“Kenjirou...”

“Yuuji, I refuse to let you get hurt by this kid. Tell him to talk to a counselor if he’s having so many issues and don’t let him talk shit at you or take your lunch or anything else.”

Yuuji nodded and lowered his head.

Kenjirou pulled him out of the chair, letting go of his hands to grab the plates of food he’d made for them. “C’mon, it’s getting late. Let’s just go up to my room, eat snacks, play cards, whatever.”

Yuuji brightened a little, procuring some more food before racing up the stairs and belly-flopping on Kenjirou’s bed.

Kenjirou grinned and set the food in his hands down on the bedside table, grabbing a remote and flipping on the TV on the bookshelf to play as background noise.

“Hey, Kenjirou, watch this!” Yuuji opened a carton of raspberries and tossed one up in the air, catching it easily in his mouth.

“You better not get any juice on my bed,” Kenjirou warned, but he was smiling anyway.

 

 ~

 

Two days later was one of the rare but important days when both teams had a rest-day off of practice after school. Yuuji texted Kenjirou early in the morning asking for Kenjirou to come to his place after school and they’d spend the afternoon and night there.

Forcing his eyes open to read the message, Kenjirou affirmed the plan and glanced at the clock. He still had a half hour before he normally got up for school. How Yuuji woke up so early every day was beyond him.

Regardless of the time, Kenjirou got out of bed and threw an extra change of clothes into his backpack even though he knew he had at least a few sets of clothing at Yuuji’s house from past sleepovers.

In the middle of class, Kenjirou’s phone buzzed in his pocket: not a rare occurrence. He glanced up to be sure the teacher wasn’t facing the class before sneaking a look.

_Why does he want me to meet him at Johzenji?_ Kenjirou narrowed his eyes but couldn’t come up with any good reasoning that Yuuji wouldn’t want him to just walk over to the Terushima household after school.

“Why?” Kenjirou texted back under the desk.

“Bc i have 2 talk to a teachr and i dont want u to beat me home. >n< I want to walk home with youuu!!!!! :DDD <3333333333”

Kenjirou smirked.

“Phone.” A loud voice appeared above Kenjirou and he raised his head to find his teacher standing by his desk, hand outstretched.

Kenjirou sighed and placed his phone in the teacher’s hand.

 

After apologizing and retrieving his phone at the end of the day, Kenjirou started walking toward Johzenji, only about twenty minutes from his own school.

He figured Yuuji would most likely be done talking to his teacher and would be waiting somewhere outside in the sunshine, so Kenjirou began circling the building.

Several students still lingered around the building and Kenjirou knew to keep his eye out for Yuuji’s familiar confident posture instead of his appearance since picking out one individual in a sea of the same uniform was nearly impossible.

This was the reason Kenjirou almost missed his boyfriend entirely.

Yuuji was slouching against the side of the building, hands jammed into his pockets, looking at the ground. Near him was another student, his arms folded across his chest, a scowl apparent on his face, even from Kenjirou’s distance from the two.

_Oh no... I told you not to talk to him anymore._ “Yuuji!” Kenjirou called out, taking large steps toward his boyfriend.

Yuuji immediately looked up. The other kid looked over as well and Kenjirou had to focus to keep any negative emotions in check.

Kenjirou scanned over Yuuji first as he approached, noting that he looked a little more downcast than normal, but nothing more than that and he was at least standing taller than before.

The other kid was a different story. He was almost a head taller than Kenjirou and Yuuji, lanky with a gaunt face and a bitter look in his eyes. Yuuji had always had a knack for seeking out the broken ones who didn’t have anyone else or any idea what it was like for a peer to actually care about them. Kenjirou couldn’t complain too much about that though, or he wouldn’t be where he was.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt. You ready, Yuuji?” Kenjirou started casually at first.

“Who do you think you are, shortstack?” The teen sneered.

Kenjirou set his jaw. “I’ll try again. Hi, I’m Shirabu Kenjirou and this is my boyfriend and we’re leaving now. Bye.”

“Kenjirou, it’s okay...” Yuuji said hesitantly.

The lack of conviction in Yuuji’s voice was enough to set Kenjirou off. His fuse was lit now and if this kid made any wrong moves, he had a world of hurt coming straight for him.

“What a pushy boyfriend you have here.” The taller teen stepped toward Kenjirou. “Nobody likes an overbearing, clingy, controlling partner, don’t you know anything?”

Kenjirou scoffed, keeping his gaze steady and stepping directly in between Yuuji and the nasty kid. “Oh, I _know_ you didn’t just say that.”

“It’s true, you know. You’re just lucky he’s still putting up with you. It won’t last long, I promise.”

“Why don’t you back off instead of trying to ruin other people’s confidence just to build yours up.”

The kid glared and spat directly onto Kenjirou’s shoe.

Kenjirou blinked. A small crowd of students seemed to be taking interest in the forming scene. Kenjirou wanted nothing more than to lunge at the guy and kick his ass for whatever he might’ve done to Yuuji, but he kept his temper in check. If he couldn’t control himself, that would make him no better than this punk. Instead, he spoke calmly. “Yuuji, are you ready to leave?”

“Y-yes please, Kenjirou.”

“Weak!” the other kid yelled, throwing his fist forward.

Kenjirou felt the stab of pain in his cheek and he raised his own fists.

The gangly teenager threw another punch, but Kenjirou grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, slamming him up against the side of the school.

The two were pulled apart almost instantly by staff members alerted to the commotion.

Kenjirou stumbled back into Yuuji’s arms.

“Are you okay?” a female teacher asked him. “I saw him spit on you and I came over. You’re not in trouble.”

“I’m fine.” Kenjirou grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to start anything.”

The taller teen glared at Kenjirou, though thankfully, he was unharmed.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve started trouble,” the teacher said, turning to face the perpetrator. “Come on, you’re going to have a nice long talk with the principal.”

As they left, Kenjirou exhaled and leaned back against Yuuji. “Fuck...”

Yuuji turned Kenjirou around to hug him tightly. “What the crap, man!”

“Sorry,” Kenjirou sighed, running his hand up and down Yuuji’s back. “I’m just surprised I’m not in any trouble. Trespassing at the very least.”

Yuuji held Kenjirou at arm’s length, studying the blooming bruise under his eye. “I can’t believe... Kenjirou!”

“Shh,” Kenjirou waved Yuuji away. “I’m fine, are you okay? Can we go to your house now? Everyone’s still looking at us.”

Yuuji placed his hands on Kenjirou’s shoulders and led him away from the school. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long walk and within ten minutes, Kenjirou was sitting on the counter in Yuuji’s kitchen with a bag of ice cubes pressed against his face.

“Why did you do that?” Yuuji asked. He hadn’t stopped looking guilty the entire way home. “I shouldn’t have let him—”

“Yuuji. Shut up. You know my stubborn streak. Don’t act so surprised.”

“I didn’t realize you were so efficient about it. He didn’t even stand a chance against you!”

“I took a couple self-defense classes as a kid.” Kenjirou shrugged. “It didn’t take long to realize that I had a knack for pissing people off.”

Yuuji finally smiled at that. “Thank you, I guess... I don’t think I would’ve been able to say no to him ever.”

“I know. You’re too much of a softie. I refuse to take any shit from people like that, especially when it’s malice directed at you.”

“Especially what?”

Kenjirou blushed. “I, uh... Just... Don’t get it in your head that I won’t stand up for you. I’m not okay with people taking advantage of your kindness. I won’t let people walk all over you just because you let them.”

“But Kenjirou! I want to be the one who gets to take care of you!”

Kenjirou smirked. “Well, I get to look out for you too sometimes...” He shifted the ice pack and held up his phone to glance at his reflection. “Here’s one thing you can do for me: don’t laugh when I take this ice off my face and you see how fucking stupid this looks.”

Yuuji raised a hand to place over Kenjirou’s. “What does it look like?”

Kenjirou revealed the purple-black bruise across his cheekbone. “It looks like I got in a fistfight. Which I did. Which is fucking stupid. People will think I’m a delinquent.”

Yuuji grinned and pulled Kenjirou off the counter and back into his arms, gently skimming his thumb over the tender mark. “People will think you’re kick-butt amazing! Which you are!”

Kenjirou smiled and rested his chin on Yuuji’s shoulder. “Thanks for being the kind of guy to take the broken ones under your wing and making them feel important.”

“What?”

“You always do that. You always attract the strays who don’t have anyone else to talk to. Sometimes it ends up like this, sure, but sometimes it’s okay.”

“What are you talking about—”

“Me, Yuuji. I’m talking about me. I’m talking about past Kenjirou who didn’t even know how to smile and who didn’t know where he stood in the world. No one else thought I was worth working with. I couldn’t get rid of you at first, even though I really wanted to. Thanks for sticking by me.”

Yuuji’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

_Wow. I made him speechless. That’s a first._

Yuuji pulled Kenjirou tighter against him. “Shut up. You’ve always been amazing.”

Smiling made his face hurt, but Kenjirou smiled anyway.  “That’s debatable.”

“No, it’s not. Stop being dumb. You’re great!”

“Okay, well, I’m better with you. Can we agree on that?”

Yuuji laughed softly into Kenjirou’s shirt. “I’m better with you too.”

“No, you’re perfect.”

“But better with you.”

“Better with you...” Kenjirou whispered one more time, just to set it in stone.


End file.
